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http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2017/08/042.html
Human antidepressants are building up in the brains of bass, walleye and several other fish common to the Great Lakes region, scientists say. In a new study, researchers detected high concentrations of these drugs and their metabolized remnants in the brain tissue of 10 fish species found in the Niagara River. [...] "These active ingredients from antidepressants, which are coming out from wastewater treatment plants, are accumulating in fish brains," Aga says. "It is a threat to biodiversity, and we should be very concerned.
[...] "The levels of antidepressants found do not pose a danger to humans who eat the fish, especially in the U.S., where most people do not eat organs like the brain," Singh says. "However, the risk that the drugs pose to biodiversity is real, and scientists are just beginning to understand what the consequences might be."
[...] The highest concentration of a single compound was found in a rock bass, which had about 400 nanograms of norsertraline — a metabolite of sertraline, the active ingredient in Zoloft — per gram of brain tissue. This was in addition to a cocktail of other compounds found in the same fish, including citalopram, the active ingredient in Celexa, and norfluoxetine, a metabolite of the active ingredient in Prozac and Sarafem. More than half of the fish brain samples had norsertraline levels of 100 nanograms per gram or higher. In addition, like the rock bass, many of the fish had a medley of antidepressant drugs and metabolites in their brains.
Evidence that antidepressants can change fish behavior generally comes from laboratory studies that expose the animals to higher concentrations of drugs than what is found in the Niagara River. But the findings of the new study are still worrisome: The antidepressants that Aga's team detected in fish brains had accumulated over time, often reaching concentrations that were several times higher than the levels in the river.
Also at Detroit Free Press.
Selective Uptake and Bioaccumulation of Antidepressants in Fish from Effluent-Impacted Niagara River (DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b02912) (DX)
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday September 05 2017, @12:44AM (4 children)
Not that I'm trying to minimize the problem here, but if the stuff concentrates only in the brains, just avoid fish-head recipes. Yes, I know this means no more authentic canh chua and similar, but if the body wall meat is okay then I wouldn't worry tooooo much. The plastic they're eating has me more worried honestly.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 4, Insightful) by EvilSS on Tuesday September 05 2017, @12:49AM (1 child)
(Score: 2, Informative) by realDonaldTrump on Tuesday September 05 2017, @03:14AM
It's a big problem for our veterans. When people come back from war and combat and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks on this site have seen many times over and you're strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can't handle it. Mentally, they can't handle it. So they go on the antidepressants. On the brain pills. But a lot, a lot get suicidal. And some do the mass shootings. Because of those pills. Or they get stabby. They do stabbings. Like Ben Carson. Terrific guy! He took a knife and plunged it into the belt and amazingly the belt stayed totally flat and the knife broke. It’s in the book that he’s got a pathological temper. That’s a big problem because you don’t cure that. As an example: child molesting. You don’t cure those people. You don’t cure a child molester. There’s no cure for it. Pathological, there’s no cure for that. I’m not bringing up anything that’s not in his book. When he says he’s pathological -- and he says that in his book, I don’t say that -- and again, I’m not saying anything, I’m not saying anything other than pathological is a very serious disease. And the antidepressants, they fix one problem, they create others. Big, big problems. Mentally. For our veterans, our politicians, our fish. 🇺🇸
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 05 2017, @12:57AM (1 child)
So they report anti-depressant contamination them in all tissues tested. I didn't read the paper so can't say anything beyond that.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 05 2017, @01:00AM
So they report anti-depressant contamination in all tissues tested. I didn't read the paper so can't say anything beyond that.